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SCREAM ZONE

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A member registered Nov 03, 2023 · View creator page →

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This is the sort of stuff that is super important to document and publish as a postmortem for the game. Not only can it help you record what the journey was like for you in the jam, it's also very helpful for looking back and learning from past design or planning decisions too! 

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No problem at all! For the sentence 'The cues make sense...', I understand that was not explained very well - it means the game page made it very clear that each mask had cues or prompts for players to do something, but took a moment to figure out how exactly to respond. This genre of game is always a pleasure. Anytime and hope you enjoyed making a game for the jam :) 

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You can see the masks peek out from behind the menu you're using when winding the crank, which is where the awkward term "crank menu" comes from. I found that cool. On AI, writing a hundred of these comments, you're bound to get a little generic in tone eventually. 

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SCREAM JAM 2024 gHost's Choice - 

This game is an absolute blast. For a horror game that’s completely left-field in terms of tone and genre, it’s a shooter on rails set in an alternate-history Great War where chemical weapons become so potent they end up reviving the dead. It delivers a complete arcade experience, with players navigating a hazy, devastated Western Front shelling zombies from the safety of an armoured train. There’s plenty of dialogue to guide the player along their journey.  Enemy ragdolls, collectables, cannons as an alternate weapon, and destructible environments create immensely satisfying gunplay that keeps the game enjoyable. Easily the most fun to be had for the jam. 

Thank you for submitting Rotting Railway to SCREAM JAM 2024, and congratulations on being selected as one of the ten gHost's Choice entries for the jam! 

SCREAM JAM 2024 gHost's Choice - 

It’s always nice to see old models of gameplay, and this is a simple but well-rounded classic graphical text adventure made in Godot with plenty of mechanics to test out. Players navigate an asylum, fighting and evading monsters to escape its confines. In the tradition of classic adventures, there’s dialogue, locations to explore, puzzles to solve to find the exit, and critically an RNG based combat system based on basic skills and weapons. The well-written prose leaves the atmosphere to the player’s imagination. A great example of game development that can do a lot with a little. 

Thank you for submitting Asylum to SCREAM JAM 2024, and congratulations on being selected as one of the ten gHost's Choice entries for the jam! 

SCREAM JAM 2024 gHost's Choice - 

A surreal foray into warehouse logistics in which the player is tasked to find boxes throughout the warehouse and deliver them. Repetition is leveraged wonderfully here to disarm the player into a false sense of complacency, and the simple tasks begin to defy expectations at every turn. There’s plenty of scripted sequences that lead the player into scares, often due to the claustrophobic shelves of cardboard boxes. By the end, crawling through the literal bowels of the warehouse, I asked myself: Why am I delivering all these boxes in hell? I can imagine the thought isn’t too dissimilar to the average Amazon warehouse worker. A really tight and well-paced game.  

Thank you for submitting NO WASTE to SCREAM JAM 2024, and congratulations on being selected as one of the ten gHost's Choice entries for the jam! 

SCREAM JAM 2024 gHost's Choice - 

Games set in a single room always have a difficult task of providing the player with enough freedom and gameplay to sustain interest. This insidiously bleak game does the opposite: the player, trapped in their basement by a blast, is constantly taunted about their own confinement. The narrative context paces the player through the absurd and futile nature of their survival situation. The game ends abruptly, but not without a well-earned scare that calls back to a darker and more interesting horror of being trapped and surrounded by death. It’s an interesting, thought-provoking game that creates a setting atypical to the mythological tone of indie horror. 

Thank you for submitting Concrete Cries to SCREAM JAM 2024, and congratulations on being selected as one of the ten gHost's Choice entries for the jam! 

SCREAM JAM 2024 gHost's Choice - 

Ren’Py games seem to beg developers to make full use of its potential as an engine. This game is an excellent mood piece that commits to its concept about being captured and trapped in the backseat of a car. Soon, the game reveals its interesting ambiguity, asking the player to question the identity of the real monster. Simple elements go far to create a striking visual scene: a subtle parallax, an animated undulating road, and the furtive glances of the player’s captor. Timed dialogue reactions, multiple endings and a coda to the game revealed on a second playthrough give the game incredible depth. One to watch and an impressive project for a first game. 

Thank you for submitting Night Drive to SCREAM JAM 2024, and congratulations on being selected as one of the ten gHost's Choice entries for the jam! 

SCREAM JAM 2024 gHost's Choice - 

A game that bleeds atmosphere through the literal lens of its photography mechanic. Players explore a haunted bunker with a Polaroid camera in order to uncover the secrets of the family that lived within its concrete walls. The Polaroid shots reveal narrative elements through writing on the walls, and, paired with a ghost-hunting sensor, slowly reveal the grotesque faces of the ghosts. Although the tables turn on the player in the ending twist, there are no obvious scares but the inventive use of text to shape the environment into a history of sad stories of a lost generation. 

Thank you for submitting Bunker 73 to SCREAM JAM 2024, and congratulations on being selected as one of the ten gHost's Choice entries for the jam! 

SCREAM JAM 2024 gHost's Choice - 

Why not have style and substance? This game is a sci-fi job simulator set on a distant forlorn planet where the player is indentured to get a handle of the miserable telecommunications infrastructure. There is no shortage of atmosphere here and the game illustrates a memorable setting of life on a hostile, fog infested world where inhabitants are barely able to survive. Core gameplay involves transmitting radio signals through an arcane computer system, with some in-depth technical procedures to wrestle with. Of course, whilst the player is attempting to figure out how to make heads and tails of it, there’s a monster ready to interrupt the broadcast.  

Thank you for submitting Radio Security to SCREAM JAM 2024, and congratulations on being selected as one of the ten gHost's Choice entries for the jam! 

SCREAM JAM 2024 gHost's Choice - 

The game is a short proof of concept that opens up a world of design potential as a detective game focused on the incidence and power of symbols. Detailed player interaction to locate the offending symbol of a malevolent entity provides a wonderful opportunity for environmental storytelling, with Bernadette’s fate told only through items and not dialogue. The hints illustrate how much thought has gone into the item placement and design to solve the puzzle by thinking of the scene as a whole, in terms of the source and timeframe of the objects. Although the game is short, it demonstrates a command of environment design and a great detective mechanic.  

Thank you for submitting Paranormal '98 to SCREAM JAM 2024, and congratulations on being selected as one of the ten gHost's Choice entries for the jam! 

SCREAM JAM 2024 gHost's Choice - 

Few games have tackled terminal-based game mechanics, even fewer as convincingly as here. The game is a good showcase for its core mechanic – unlocking and navigating through a rogue AI core using a portable terminal, a great idea easily scalable to a broader puzzle game. Popping it up, responding to dialogue, and inputting the commands from dialog and menu cues feels great. The narrative explores a fun interplay between the player’s instructor Handler, the AI CASSUS and the unclear delineations between the two as the game’s final twist reveals itself. There’s a polished quality to the game’s narrative progression in the vein of linear puzzle games such as Portal. 

Thank you for submitting TriumAI to SCREAM JAM 2024, and congratulations on being selected as one of the ten gHost's Choice entries for the jam! 

SCREAM JAM 2024 gHost's Choice - 

There’s a lot going on in this visual novel!  The game’s split-screen visual approach creates a great marriage of imagery and text, and conveys the split attention of Serenity, a character pulling a rough all-nighter. Over the course of one night, Serenity is trying to juggle finishing a midterm anthropology paper, keep tabs on her partner, Connor, stay awake, and talk to an online stranger. The narrative is open-ended at many stages, in terms of Connor’s loyalties, the nature of Serenity’s own behaviour, and the true intentions of the increasingly disturbing online stranger, Hoot83. The game has excellent pacing as it culminates the slow night into one that is turning wrong fast. 

Thank you for submitting Night Owls to SCREAM JAM 2024, and congratulations on being selected as one of the ten gHost's Choice entries for the jam! 

Nice echolocation mechanics, I think it's a neat idea! Navigation was a tad tricky but got the hang of it. It wasn't long before the spider-like monster got a hold of me - but fortunately on a second run I found the layout of the space easier to find items.

Thanks for submitting Cecity to the jam!

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Some fantastic retro vibes here that aren't just imitative but also creepy. Great sprite art on Cheese Mommy and the distortion and sound effects make it genuinely freaky to get chased by her. Lots of little details, like the main menu tips, that make this enjoyable to play. In the end I got absolutely cheesed.

(The Cheese Mommy screen was personally a defining experience of the jam for me. All hail Cheese Mommy.) 

Thanks for submitting Cheese God to the jam!

Punching skeletons? Say no more, I'm in - I hate those guys! The combat is a fun twist and I like the animations - make sure to nail the hitbox and timing of the animation cycle! The idea of picking up their skulls and flinging them, basketball-style into the hoop-like coffins is very funny. A skeleton sports game would go hard!

Thanks for submitting Coffin Commotion to the jam!

Fascinating and wilfully obscure. A little in the OS analog horror basket but also imitates the eerie visuals of Mac HyperCard games. Interesting mix of provocative and free association allusions that seem to evoke the inherent discomfort of browsing bad parts of the Internet. Deep web type vibes. MC Ride would be proud.

Thanks for submitting Collage Advertisement : Propaganda to the jam!

Grade-A premium comedic horror. I like the routine of the initial phase of the game lulls the player into a sense of security, and then all hell breaks loose. The moos, I am afraid, will haunt me for some time. Adding a chase sequence and maze was a simple and effective way to tie the experience together into a horror package.

Thanks for submitting Cowbor to the jam!

Really interesting tool and a great primer on how many tricks are in the book for 2D animation. Sliders would really help add to the sense of control. The possibilities are endless! I hope you're able to transfer this mastery of particle animation to a project - it would be cool to see these used in the context of gameplay!

Thanks for submitting Creating Flame to the jam!

Educational typing and horror is a fun microgenre ever since The Typing of The Dead proved it doable! I like that there's no holds barred with the lexicon: my first word was ophthalmologic. Nice approach to have different gameplay modes for variety.

Thanks for submitting Crypt Script to the jam!

Very well thought-out turn-based puzzle game. There's some great balance here: such as the barriers also pointing to the exit, the die-roll and tile flip mechanics creating unpredictability. I can absolutely see this type of game being the object of much addiction in a 90s shareware iteration of the past. Great execution.

Thanks for submitting Crypt's Game to the jam!

Really clear that a bunch of work went into this - which reads very well as an eerie treatise on existential horror in the setting of the woods. Really cool to see broader and more psychological tropes than the usual monster in the woods. Appreciate the multiple endings and will definitely revisit to see what threads can be pulled!

Thanks for submitting Dead Frequency to the jam!

Interesting concept that sets up a really evocative impression of a late-night hitchhike that maybe is a little more than the driver expected. Dialogue on top of maintaining a passive driving action, Desert Bus style, makes for a nice gameplay loop. Super interested to see what comes of this guy and his unusual story!

Thanks for submitting Deadhead Haul to the jam!

A nice self-contained exploration game. I thought the little round miner was cute and had a fun waddle to his animation. The slow pacing helped with the horror, and made me worry he wasn't going to get into the cart quick enough to escape the bat! Great visual and environmental flourishes throughout for a minimalistic 2D game. 

Thanks for submitting Deep in the mines to the jam!

I'm down for a little musical bit to set the mood! It must have been fun to learn how to do all the distortion pixel shift effects on the various items. I'm here for the fact this plays a little like an arcade-style game, with a points system and time limit. Some great minimalism going on with the spritework that pairs well with the effect.

Thanks for submitting Disarm to the jam!

Many great touches to the tried-and-true haunted house genre. I particularly liked the gesture interactions, and the mechanics of the character catpuring and recording the incidents as the game progresses - it really gets you into the role of a sort of haunted Nancy Drew. It's deliciously creepy stuff. Hope you can keep making this!

Thanks for submitting Disbelief to the jam!

As others have said, the interpretation of classic Spectrum computing is spot-on and really evokes the sense of the 'lost game' metanarrative outlined in the game page. The game and its dialogue follow the beats of the adventure game style of that time, right down to using the context text at the bottom of the screen that you see in a lot of the games of that era to instill dread into the player. Lovely attention to detail and plenty to explore, and multiple endings make this much more replayable. That this was made in GameMaker is an enormous achievement in itself. Complementing MAERE, this is another varied and well-executed take on a horror subgenre to be proud of. 

Thanks for submitting Stay Indoors to the jam! 

Gleefully strange and all the better for it. I like a bunch of little touches in this, including the behaviour of the dog on the lead and how he tends to wrap himself around trees, the inexplicably bloody poop bags and of course, the poop sacrifices. Sometimes a game just needs to be a little strange to be memorable for a jam!

Thanks for submitting Do not poop in the Holy Grove to the jam!

This feels like a genuine relic of a 1984 Lode Runner style Apple II platformer. The commitment to the aesthetic and design is genuinely impressive: key-based controls, level codes and titles, points and lives. The varied layout and chase of Dr. Horrible adds a nice measure of variation. Great take on a classic genre!

Thanks for submitting Dr. Horrible's Castle to the jam!

Love the retro design reflected in the game's elements: visuals, interface and audio all give off a nicely period feel. The subtle warping and scanline effect to make the game look like it's a monitor works very well. Gameplay is a nice, self-contained maze. I wish there were better ways to ward off that monster - he's fast!

Thanks for submitting Escape Mansion to the jam!

The blink mechanic is a fun interpretation of the ever-encroaching enemy like in SCP Containment Breach creating a race against time. Lots of room escape puzzles and item combinations to pore over. The monochrome graphics work well. Those creepy eyes sure do enjoy peering inside, so when they actually entered I was shook!

Thanks for submitting Eyes in the Dark to the jam!

Nice approach! Like the FNAF design model, you really have a good gameplay loop of setting different routines and behaviours for the different masks. Seeing them peek out of the corner of the crank menu is good design. The cues make sense, but the responses take a little figuring out. I think there's a bunch you can do with this idea. 

Thanks for submitting Faceless Face Off to the jam!

A cheeky and well-written limerick is a fun touch to start the gameplay and set the scene. Plenty of scripted jumpscares to keep the player on their toes. Awesome stuff to compose the soundtrack - that bass amp slaps. And a great comedic ending which really shows the game was thought-out as a cohesive narrative from start to finish.

Thanks for submitting Fanging In The Dark to the jam!

Fun use of time constraints to create an pace and encroaching sense of dread. The idea of replenishing a slowly fading fire is always a classic. I think here the shadows work really well to create 'safe' and 'unsafe' spaces that keeps the player on their toes. And of course, the monster ready to chase the player is very important!

Thanks for submitting Feed The Fire to the jam!

I think this game was an interesting interrogation of the cyclical nature of depression. I interpret the cutesy aspects of the game as the defences we try to maintain to keep ourselves innocent. There's plenty of dark insinuations in the game that hint at how hard this can be in real life. Definitely thought provoking.

Thanks for submitting flora's big beautiful brain to the jam!

As is the standard with your body of work, this is great, atmospheric stuff, and polished with a view of providing a player with a cinematic experience. Voice acting and attention to detail in the game's scripted sequences go a long way to create that impression. Plenty to like and a really refreshing example of UE4 games that use the sheen of the engine precisely right. 

Thanks for submitting THE PHONE to the jam! 

As other have said, great potential to - as they say - scare players shitless! The simple item combinations and random happenings create a puzzle mechanic around trying to take a dump whilst not being disturbed. I think this could easily be fleshed out. What matters is that the bathroom itself is pretty damn realistic and grimy!

Thanks for submitting Flush without return to the jam!

I think the best thing about this is the flavour text - it's fun to have variety, especially for a mechanic where the gameplay loop encourages repetition and accuracy. The flavour - pun intended - really helps sell the idea of a fantastical takeout shop. Plenty of ideas here that could be developed into a full game!

Thanks for submitting Forego: Medieval Dine N Dash to the jam!

Great set of scripted sequences that truly gets strange very quickly. It's awesome to see the commitment to design a fully voice-acted game. I like the puzzle tricks, such as using ultraviolet light and having the doors open into an endless loop. I am absolutely here for the fact you're able to pet Rufus. Really fun and well-rounded!

Thanks for submitting Good Boy to the jam!

Really love the care taken to illustrate the journal to keep the player on their toes throughout the encounter. I thought it was a nice flourish to have several monsters and procedures to avoid them. Everything from the notes to the enemies and gravestones set out good attention to detail that made it fun to experience.

Thanks for submitting Grave Mistakes to the jam!